UPDATE: Download link works now! This is an easy, non-technical method for learning jazz solos/breaks/trading, which I devised in lessons with an older Skype student. It involves a few basic patterns, and several easy practice […]
Category: Todd’s Methods
Heavy funk drill
Going from Ndugu-actual to Ndugu-esque. This is a 70s style funk drill that dovetails nicely with some other things we’ve been doing lately— see the other links in that linked post. I think jazz drummers […]
Syncopation exercise in 3/4: quarter / dotted-quarter spacing
Another Ted Reed-style syncopation exercise, designed for a special purpose. This one is in 3/4, with all notes spaced two or three 8th notes apart— quarter notes or dotted quarter notes, or their equivalents with […]
Jazz waltz with Chaffee
Let’s detail something I mentioned in the Chaffee jazz post: using the patterns in that system as 8th notes in a jazz waltz. They’re three-note (or rest) patterns, so playing them two times = a […]
Hemiola funk series: back to back
Continuing this project to see how much standard funk vocabulary can be derived from two 3:2 polyrhythm licks. Here we’re doing the two main BS-BS and SB-SB hemiola licks back to back, and putting that in […]
Rock unisons drill
I’m very big on drills with the hands in unison these days. It strengthens the left hand, and is excellent training for playing singles solidly, in time, without rushing. This is a very basic rock drill […]
Making sense of the Chaffee jazz materials
Patterns, vol. 3 by Gary Chaffee Let’s talk about a big scary hard thing: the jazz section of volume 3 of Gary Chaffee’s Patterns series— the Time Functioning book. It’s in a similar category with […]
Reed samba method – basic exercise
This is the first in a multi-post series outlining some ways of using Progressive Steps to Syncopation to do a samba. I usually use actual Brazilian rhythms for that, but many of the rhythms in […]
Syncopation exercise: singles, doubles – 2-3 8th intervals
Another original syncopation exercise. The last one had single notes, spaced one or two 8th notes apart. This one has one or two notes in a row, one or two 8ths apart. Both are really […]
Syncopation exercise – singles, 2-3 8th intervals
Let’s start a little series here: some full page syncopation exercises, each designed for a special purpose. Good for fluency and ease of practice with certain practice methods, good for a particular challenge with others. […]